Eublaberus posticus cannibalism

NRoach

NRoach

Third Instar
Hey guys, I was wondering if Eublaberus posticus are typically cannibalistic. If not, is there any way to stop it? They have a spacious bin , lots of wood slabs, and they're not overcrowded. I didn't have this issue until females started maturing. When females started popping up, I noticed that wings were getting nibbled off, but it wasn't until today that I noticed they were eating a freshly molted one. I'm not sure if it was a male or female who was being eaten, but it was terrible. It had it's abdomen completely eaten away and was being fought over by several large nymphs and adults. All while desperately waving its antennae around.There was another roach, a female, who molted into adulthood, but they didn't bother her at all except to mate. She's darkened up now, but should I be worried she'll be eaten? They get plenty of dog food and fruits and have a deep moist substrate. What causes this? I have never seen anything like this with my other species. This species is beautiful, especially as adults. Is there anything I could do to reduce wing-biting and cannibalism so I could get at least some adults with intact wings? Also, I'm really interested in getting more Eublaberus spp. Do the others have this same issue of eating each other's wings and each other?

 
I would try different proteins. I was told to try and feed boiled eggs when my lats and other species wouldnt breed and start eating each other.

 
Yes this species in particular is known for being quite voracious and will eat most soft, slow moving insects, including each other. Keeping them moister will help.

 
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Yes, they were eating freshly molted hissers in a community tank for me! Things improved with lots of protein and moisture and more substrate. And I am working to remove most of the remaining ones from my community tank...

 
Thank all you guys so much. I'll definitely try giving them pieces of hard-boiled egg and adding more moisture, although their enclosure is just short of being soggy already. I'll try to add more substrate as well. I have them on peat moss. Should I try a chunkier substrate?

 
wcbpolish said:
Yes, they were eating freshly molted hissers in a community tank for me! Things improved with lots of protein and moisture and more substrate. And I am working to remove most of the remaining ones from my community tank...
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I'm actually going to try to start a community tank soon. I wasn't planning on adding them, but now I for sure will not add them. Are there Eublaberus spp. that aren't so keen on eating each other?

 
Wing bitting will occur in the best situations. I wouldn't recommend keeping them with any other species at all. As others have said feed high protein diets and provide lots of water.

 
Yes! I've had them attack one another when they are hungry and devour dead tank mates, they crave lots of protein as well as fresh fruits/veggies. Mine enjoy cat kibble (blue wilderness it's packed with protein and fiber), but you could ocassionally put in cooked beef/chicken/turkey (plain) and they will devour it!

 
Thanks Doc and thanks Keith! So far, I have given them more substrate and more moisture in their enclosure. Unfortunately, they were still eating each other, although I saw they only picked off new mature males. I gave them eggs, and they devoured it, but they still seemed more interested in eating freshly molted males. I had to check out the enclosure every time I saw anything white to remove new matured males so they could harden their exoskeleton. It's a lot of work checking on them so often, so I finally just stopped checking. I don't know what made me do it, but I gave them more fruit than they could consume in a day, and they loved it! I'm not sure if it's the fruit's moisture or the sugar in them, but they are now no longer eating each other ,and I now have both males and females with almost perfect wings. I'm starting to think fruit might just be the answer to everything :)

 
Try it, although I have had major headaches with my Opisthoplatia orientalis and Panchlora sp "Giant" for a while, despite having tons of fruit, humidity, hides, and heat!. They just don't want to produce for me :angry:

 
AND... they're at it again :-/

Saw a freshly molted orangehead being munched by tank mates this morning. Tossed in apple, banana, and dog food to try to alleviate their desire for protein and water.

These guys are breeding fast! I think I have a love-hate relationship with them... I love that they are doing so well, and they look so cool... but I have that they seem to want to eat each other!

 
Keith said:
Yes! I've had them attack one another when they are hungry and devour dead tank mates, they crave lots of protein as well as fresh fruits/veggies. Mine enjoy cat kibble (blue wilderness it's packed with protein and fiber), but you could ocassionally put in cooked beef/chicken/turkey (plain) and they will devour it!
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I feed mine cooked meat as well, fun to watch the frenzy! They seem to favor beef and pork over poultry though. When I have leftovers that are about to get tossed I'll cut it into small chunks, trim all fat, rinse under hot water, toss in the bin and watch the madness!
 
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I read this post then heard a bunch of rustling in my orange head bin and found a lot of roaches chasing one newly molted individual and was watching thinking please don't cannibalize it! But after closer inspection I realized the pursuing roaches were actually all males and were kinda flapping their wings and the newly molted roach was female so they were just trying to mate lol.

 
But I keep my orange heads on deep moist eco earth with some dried hardwood leaves and constant access to shrimp pellets meant for fish for protein and haven't seen any cannibalism but it's possible it may have occurred though a lot of my Orange heads don't even have damaged wings so I don't think it has. Maybe they only eat eachother when they are overcrowded or some environmental factor is changed?

 
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